Christmas may still be seven weeks away, but for John Lewis it starts now.

The upmarket department store’s seasonal advert will air for the first time on television this evening.

The two-minute production – which cost £1million, with a further £6million going on booking TV slots – features a six-year-old girl who is determined to get a message to a lonely old ‘Man on the Moon’.

This year's John Lewis Christmas advert opens with six-year-old Lily taking a peek through a telescope to see if she can spot anything in the sky. While squinting to get a closer look, she reaches out for a slice of toast

Young Lily is astonished to see a lone figure – a man on the moon! The lonely figure is shown to viewers sitting by himself on a bench, completely unaware that he is being observed from the youngster back down on Earth

The elderly man, played by a 77-year-old French actor called Jean, gazes up wistfully towards the Earth

The soundtrack is a version of the Oasis song Half The World Away, performed by 19-year-old Norwegian singer Aurora and probably best known as the theme tune to BBC sitcom The Royle Family.

As with previous John Lewis Christmas adverts, it is a bit of a weepie. Last year’s was about a little boy and his penguin Monty who was desperate for love, while 2013’s was a Disney-style animation about a sleeping bear and a hare.

Share this article

This year the story opens with a little girl called Lily using a telescope and spying an old man, living alone in a little wooden house in a crater on the moon.

She tries desperately to send him a message but all her efforts fail, while he remains unaware that anyone cares about him and sits alone on a bench, wistfully staring up at the Earth.

Back down below, Lily has written a message for the elderly man, but no matter how hard she tries she can’t get it to him on the moon. She is seen struggling desperately on a step ladder to try and make it reach him

And then, on Christmas Day, the man is surprised to see a parcel drifting towards him, borne aloft by balloons

Eventually, on Christmas morning, a present arrives from the sky, carried by party balloons, and the old man unwraps it to reveal a vintage telescope.

He uses it to spot Lily and, realising that someone cares about him, his eyes fill with tears.

John Lewis refused to give the full names of the two main actors, but said the little girl is played by a six-year-old called Orlii from North London, in what is her first TV appearance.

The old man is played by a 77-year-old French actor called Jean.

The advert will premiere during the first advert break of Gogglebox on Channel 4 tonight.

Opening the parcel, the elderly, lonely,man finds inside an antique telescope which he puts to his eye to scan the Earth. Then a tear comes to his eye as he realises that he is not alone...

... for waving and smiling at him in her blue spotty pyjamas, is little Lily – her Christmas mission complete

The soundtrack to the advert is a version of the Oasis song Half The World Away, performed by 19-year-old Norwegian singer Aurora and probably best known as the theme tune to BBC sitcom The Royle Family

HOW JOHN LEWIS HAS CAPTURED THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION EACH CHRISTMAS WITH THEIR TEAR-JERKING ADVERTS

Last year’s two-minute festive commercial told the story of seven-year-old Sam, played by actor Rhys Edwards from Hertfordshire, and his friend Monty.

The boy gradually realises Monty is longing for a penguin companion. And so on Christmas morning Sam surprises Monty with the gift of a new penguin friend named Mabel.

The soundtrack is John Lennon’s song Real Love, performed by Tom Odell.

For 2013, it was the enduring friendship of a hare and a bear that melted the nation's hearts, which played along to the soundtrack of Somewhere Only We Know by Lily Allen.

The 2012 offering featured a snowman going to great lengths to find the perfect present for someone very special.

His journey was accompanied by a haunting version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's The Power of Love, sung by 20-year-old Gabrielle Aplin.

In 2011, the John Lewis advert showed a young boy so desperately excited about Christmas that he couldn't wait to give presents to his parents. It was accompanied by a cover of The Smiths’ Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.

And the 2010 offering saw individuals choosing and wrapping their presents in the lead up to the big day, as Ellie Goulding sings a cover of Elton John's Your Song.

From Harrods to Waitrose, here's how some of the other retailers are getting into the festive advertising spirit this Christmas....

Some of the country's biggest retailers have already released their festive adverts with more than seven weeks left until the big day.

From clever animation to adorable children, major nationwide stores such as Waitrose, Boots, Harrods and supermarket Asda have unveiled their festive offerings in a bid to out-do each other.

Waitrose's campaign features the tagline 'Whatever makes your Christmas, make it with Waitrose', while Boots has gone all out and drafted in American music director Joseph Kahn to mastermind the ad.

Below are just some of the Christmas adverts already released ahead of this year's big day...